Christian Aid’s Harvest Appeal

10 August 2017No Comment

Christian Aid’s Harvest Appeal – turn peas into profit this Harvest

As we approach the season of Harvest, most of us in the UK are not in the fields gathering or gleaning, but with our families and friends, giving thanks for God’s plentiful gifts. And as we celebrate and praise God for providing all we need to eat, we also stand with our sisters and brothers around the world whose harvests are uncertain.

Frank, a farmer from Malawi, found that because of climate change his traditional crop maize failed easily when the rains didn’t come, bringing hardship and malnutrition to his family.

“It is very pathetic, as a father, to feel helpless like that, to feel like you cannot provide food for your children, and that there is nothing you can do to make them better when they are crying.”

Christian Aid’s partner, the Evangelical Association of Malawi, has been helping Frank and his family to grow a special variety of pigeon peas, a remarkable protein-rich crop and ideal for southern Malawi’s dry soil. They are also bringing farmers together into Farmers’ Clubs, to learn vital business skills and plan their planting to ensure a good balance of crops and generate a profit – enough for Frank to feed his family and send his four children to school.

Your church’s support will bring hope and a more abundant life to people like Frank and his family.

Just £10 could pay for a 5kg bag of seeds, enough to plant more than an acre of pigeon peas; £70 could buy a bicycle so that an experienced farmer can reach over 100 farmers in remote areas to teach essential skills; and £500 could set up a Farmers’ Club, a tried and tested way to help a whole community of farmers beat the middlemen and get a fair price for their peas.